NHTSA Complaint #11615738 — 2023 TESLA MODEL S

There is a design flaw in the functionality of the windshield wipers. Instead of the functionality being on a stalk like every other car, Tesla decided to make it a 2 step process. To operate the windshield wipers, you first have to press a capacitive button on the steering wheel and then you have to scroll a wheel on the steering wheel. The first problem is that the button to turn on the windshield wipers is a capacitive button that is not raised on the steering wheel - so the button moves as you turn the steering wheel and thus it is not in the same place all the time. This makes it very difficult and practically impossible to find the button without taking your eyes off the road to find the button on the steering wheel. The second problem is that once you find that button, you then have to find the scroll wheel on the other side of the steering wheel to then adjust the speed. So picture you are driving into a downpour. You instantly can't see because of the rain. Because you are turning slightly on the highway, you have to take your eyes off the road to find the button on the steering wheel. That will activate the wipers but only in intermittent mode. You then have to use the scroll wheel on the other side of the steering wheel to adjust the speed so it is continuous. And while the car does have an "auto" mode, I've owned 3 different Teslas over 9 years and it has never worked properly - often turning on the wipers on a day that is 100% sunny. The auto mode also doesn't work well when it is raining because it often doesn't sense the correct speed (so staying in auto mode is not a great solution). The correct solution would be to return the wiper functionality to a stalk on the steering column and most definitely not require 2 separate buttons/functions to use it. It is very dangerous having to take your eyes off the road when you enter a downpour or when you are in a drizzle situation and then it starts pouring because you need to do 2 things.